


Found

by Operator Yaku (TheHonkmaster)



Series: Post-Prometheus Series [1]
Category: Warframe
Genre: Blood, Body Horror, Gore, M/M, Mild Descriptions of Body Horror, Mild Sexual Content, Other, Partial Nudity, mentions of self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 17:05:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13722168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHonkmaster/pseuds/Operator%20Yaku





	Found

“What do you  _mean,_  ‘they’ll die’!?” Jabali hissed. 

Before him stood Charls, calmly gazing up at the distraught Tenno. “The Infestation is in their lungs,” they began, turning their attention to the file opened on the datapad in their hands, “and if it isn’t treated, they’ll suffocate on their own tissue within a year and a half.”

“It didn’t progress this fast before!”

“You told me they had developed an eyestalk and an elongated tongue when you two reunited, and shortly afterward they developed photic channels. The Infestation progresses quickly; that’s what it was designed to do. I can only assume their stint with the Lephantis will have accelerated the Infestation’s growth rate, and one and a half years is a  _very_  generous estimate.” Charls pulled up a second file beside the first and began flipping through it, giving Jabali time to process their words.

Jabali sat down heavily and glanced up at Charls. “Do they know?”

“Of course. All but the part about their remaining time being a generous estimate.”

The man sighed and leaned forwards to look into the other room. A shock of rust red hair streaked with white peeked out from a massive nest of pillows on the bed, announcing Huon’s presence. Jabali knew that Yaku’ was hidden somewhere inside that nest as well; Huon had barely left their side since he rescued them, especially when Yaku’ was asleep.

Jabali put his head in his hands and groaned. “I don’t want to purge them unless absolutely necessary. Is there an–”

Charls cut him off with a gesture. “Purge?” they asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s… how I get rid of the Infestation. It’s fast – I once purged a village of thirty in less than a month, and all were Infested – but it’s aggressive and disruptive to the host’s body. Even the villagers who were at their physical and mental peak pre-Infestation were utterly drained after I purged them. I don’t want to accidentally kill Yaku’ while trying to save their life.”

Charls hummed. “There are treatments for the Infestation. I’ve pioneered several, and at least one will work for Yaku’, but one of the consequences is that the treatments must be administered over a period of time. I gave them a year and a half at best, which gives us six months of breathing room  _if_ the Infestation maintains its current growth rate and  _if_ Yaku’ doesn’t go near any other Infested or potentially Infested areas. That means no missions, no Orbiter, no Helminths, no Warframes. They’ll be confined to the relay, possibly to this suite alone.”

Jabali shook his head. “They won’t go for it. They’re too belligerent and stubborn. Is there anything that will work faster?”

“The shortest treatment occurs over one year. Our options are limited, Jabali.” Charls crouched to Jabali’s eye level, patting his shoulder sympathetically. “I’ll talk to them about the treatment, and if they refuse, I’ll tell them about the purging.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah. Now go get some rest or something.”

“Don’t wake them up.”

“I won’t. Now go.”

——————————————————————————————

Recent Corpus activity on Lua piqued Jabali’s curiosity. Most Tenno, if not all of them, had awakened and taken up residence on their respective Orbiters. There wasn’t much left on Lua except for Orokin technology, and even then, much of it could already be found in the Void. 

Outside the facility, an absence of noise was typical.  _Inside,_  however… The silence blanketing the gilded Orokin halls sent a shiver down Jabali’s spine. Not even the haunting music played, making his heavy footsteps sound even louder in the high-ceilinged chambers.

A splash of red appeared in the corner of his vision and he turned, lifting his weapon smoothly. Blood painted most of a window and part of the floor, too, and Jabali frowned. “Vondas, did you scan for life?” he asked, creeping closer.

The Cephalon chirped. “Yes, Operator. Cephalon Vondas reports that there were eighteen life forms in the facility when the Operator embarked on his mission.”

“…How many are there now?” A lone arm was nestled next to the place where the wall and floor met. The unfortunate Corpus’ body laid three meters away, also missing its head.

“There is one life form in the facility. It is in this very wing; Cephalon Vondas urges the Operator to be careful.”

“Thank you, Vondas. Don’t worry about me.”

Out of the eighteen bodies he found as he followed the trail of gore – some dismembered, others whole – the strangest thing he encountered was a Corpus tech’s pantsless corpse. Jabali frowned down at the prone tech and nudged it with a foot. “Just one, huh?”

“Just one, Operator.”

Jabali sighed. Vondas often couldn’t tell the difference between actual questions and rhetorical ones. He followed the gore until it became bloody footprints and stopped, dropping into a crouch. “Vondas, you said  _eighteen_  life forms, correct?”

“Correct, Operator.”

“We’ve encountered eighteen bodies, all Corpus. Who the hell is alive, and why didn’t they show up on the scan?”

“If the Operator would look up, the answer is standing right there.”

Jabali looked up.

A man with crimson hair stood at the end of the hallway, staring.

——————————————————————————————

“Yaku’?” 

Huon’s voice sifted through the layers of sleep and guided the Infested Tenno awake. They groped blindly for Huon until he met their seeking hands with his, lacing their fingers together and kissing them on the forehead. They sighed, scooting closer. “Mm… What?”

“Charls needs to speak with you.”

“Don’t wanna. ‘M tired.”

“Yaku’, it’s urgent.” Charls’ voice drew their attention to the other Tenno standing at the foot of the bed. “I’d like to talk to you about treatment options.”

Yaku’ sat up slowly, relinquishing one of Huon’s hands in favor of propping themself up against a mound of pillows. They winced as the movement sent a twinge of pain through their arm; bruises and cuts still littered their body even after three weeks and a nasty, self-inflicted gash across their face had appeared during one of their nightmares before Huon could stop them. “Alright,” they grumbled, scratching idly at a line of cuts on their chest, “go on. Huon can hear this.”

“Obviously, you recall the injection I gave you a number of days ago. It inhibits the Infestation’s growth, but the side effect is that it prevents you from healing as quickly. It is, in essence, a ‘primer’ for possible future treatments. You remember me telling you this, yes?”

“Yeah, sorta. I was kinda out of it at the time, but Huon reminded me later.”

“You… I wasn’t aware of that information, but not much I can do now, I suppose. Whatever the case, it affects possible future treatments. It gave you extra time, essentially, but it only inhibits growth. It isn’t designed to reverse and eliminate the Infestation. Now, you have several treatment options–”

“Just give me whichever one works the fastest.”

“…That one must be administered over the course of one year.”

“What?” Yaku’ suddenly sat up straighter, leaning towards Charls. “That… That only gives me half a year left if something goes wrong.”

“Yes, but–”

“No! No ‘but’. There has to be something that works faster.” Yaku’ reached for the datapad in Charls’ hands. “Let me see that.”

Charls took a step back, moving the datapad out of reach. “No. You wouldn’t understand anything on it. One year, Yaku’. That’s the least amount of time I can do.”

Huon looked up and slid off the bed. “You’re a  _doctor,”_ he growled. _“_ You’re supposed to be able to fix this.”

“I’m  _trying,_ Huon. You–”

“You’re not trying hard enough! If something goes wrong, they–” Huon stopped and took a breath, closing his eyes. He opened them again and stared Charls down, something dark lurking in his gaze. “I  _cannot_  lose them,” he murmured, not quite low enough to mask the pain in his voice. “Not again. Not so soon.”

Huon took a step towards Charls, his jaw visibly tightening as he towered over them. “Fix this. Do better. You’re a doctor.”

The Tenno glared up at Huon, clutching the datapad with white knuckles. “You’re damn right I’m a doctor. Don’t tell me to do better; I’ve fixed you up enough times for you to know what my best is, and you know that this is it. I’ve cleaned up  _your_ mistakes time and time again and I’m doing my damndest to help  _your_ partner. Do  _not_ act like I’m doing  _anything_ less than my best.”

——————————————————————————————

A beat of silence stretched between Jabali and the man with the crimson hair. The Hydroid’s neuroptics flickered once as it snapped a picture and when the visual feed stabilized, the man had bolted.

“Hey!” Jabali yelled, breaking into a run. He could hear the man’s rapid footsteps somewhere up ahead. “Come back!”

About halfway to the extraction point, Jabali lost him. He skidded to a halt and pivoted on a heel, surveying his surroundings: laser plates lined the walls and ceilings, and pressure plates threatened to activate the lasers if Jabali wasn’t careful. He raised his weapon and continued scrutinizing the room. “Vondas,” he murmured, “where is the life form now?”

“It is in the room with the Operator,” Vondas chirped.

Jabali opened his mouth to call out to the man. A solid weight dropped onto his shoulders. The Hydroid’s knees buckled. The tell-tale crackle of a prova was the only warning he had before electricity snapped through his Warframe. In a moment of panic, Jabali acted on instinct: he Transferred out of his Hydroid.

The action launched him several meters and he sailed cleanly over the pressure plates. He collided with the far wall and slid to the ground with a pained grunt before staggering to his feet and turning to face the man with the crimson hair. Jabali brought his arm up, readying his amp but holding the shot. “That’s enough!”

Before him, his Hydroid was on one knee, joints locked and unmoving. The man crouched behind the Warframe, prova in hand and looking like he was steeling himself for an attack. After a moment the man peeked over the Warframe’s back at Jabali with a quizzical expression. Jabali stared back, his own brow furrowing as he took in the man’s features. The determined look on the man’s face was… oddly familiar, but Jabali couldn’t put his finger on it. Was it the patches of vitiligo, similar to Jabali’s own?

The man ducked back behind the Warframe; the top of his head was still visible and Jabali watched a streak of white hair shift around. “I already dealt with your buddies, sweetheart. Put that thing down and I won’t have to deal with you.”

“The… Corpus? I’m not with them. I–”

“That’s what they all say, sweetheart. Look, I’ll make this simple: I’m taking your ship, and I’m taking it to the nearest Tower. If you try to fight me on this, it won’t end well for you.”

Jabali frowned and stood up straight. “This is Lua. The nearest Tower is in the Void. If you’re trying to get somewhere– Wait, hold on. Hold on. You stole the pants off a crewman.”

“Yeah, and they fit like a cheap mansion.”

“What?”

“No ballroom.”

“Oh my stars.” Jabali pinched the bridge of his nose and screwed his eyes shut, sighing heavily. “Okay. Look, we can sort this out pretty easily. I will take you to the nearest relay and then you can do whatever you want afterwards. I’m not with the Corpus, I’m not trying to kill you so long as you don’t try to kill me – again. In fact, I’ll do you one better: I’ll let you use my shower on board my Orbiter and get you a new pair of pants.”

“Uh-huh. Sounds like a great time, handsome, but I don’t trust you Orokin bastards.”

“I am literally just taking you to the nearest relay. It’s on Mercury, it’s a short-ish trip, I’ll drop you off and leave. You get pants out of it! You get a shower! You don’t get killed!” Jabali said, then pointed at the man. “And I’m  _not_ Orokin.”

“Bull _shit.”_ The man poked his head over the Hydroid’s back again; Jabali stood there with crossed arms, glaring at him. The man rolled his eyes. “I’m–”

“Look,” Jabali interrupted, shifting position to see the man better, “we can keep arguing, or we can both get out of this shithole alive and well – and you can get some pants that actually fit. I don’t want to be here any longer than you. I came to kill the Corpus, okay? I didn’t come here for you. I didn’t even know that you were here! I don’t even know who you are!”

“Maybe I want to keep it that way, sweetheart. You’re handsome and all, but I don’t trust you one bit.” The man’s grip on the prova had loosened and his stance was awkward as he twisted to look at Jabali; one solid kick would put him off-balance, if even that. Jabali shook out his arms and flexed his hand inside of the amp.

“Will you at least follow me outside so I can show you what’s happened? I assume you’ve been in stasis, given how convinced you are that I’m Orokin. You know they’re gone, right? The Empire fell a long, long time ago,” Jabali explained, edging closer to his Hydroid.

“Uh, no. That’s impossible. The Orokin aren’t– Hey!”

The man was cut short by the sudden presence of a pair of biomechanical arms wrapping around him and hoisting him into the air, forcing him to drop the prova. Jabali sighed, now back to piloting his Hydroid. He hefted the man higher in his arms and ignored the other’s struggling. “This could’ve been significantly easier,” he grumbled, starting towards an outside exit, “but you’re just as stubborn as my sibling.”

——————————————————————————————

Charls stared at their reflection in the mirror above the sink, taking in the dark circles and the dead look in their eyes. They finished washing their hands and scraped their hair back into a halfhearted attempt at making themself look decent; arguing with both Yaku’ and Huon at the same time was exhausting, and it showed.

They glanced down at the datapad on the counter, still opened to Yaku’’s file. Jabali was right when he said they would never go for the year-long treatment, but he didn’t want to have to purge them unless it was a last resort. 

It seemed like it was time for a last resort.

Charls scooped up the datapad and sighed. “I’m sorry, Jabali,” they murmured, “but I’m sure you’ll understand.”

They opened the door with a wave and stepped back into the suite’s bedroom; Yaku’ and Huon were sitting exactly where Charls left them. The pair looked up expectantly and Charls groaned before turning their attention to the datapad. “There is… one thing that won’t take as long.”

“I knew it,” muttered Yaku’, scratching at the gash across their face. Huon reached over and gently lowered their hand before they drew blood.

“It’s not what you think, it’s…” Charls fumbled for the words. “It’s complicated. It’s… purging. Removing the Infestation from your system in one fell swoop. Now, it is a very quick procedure, but it’s an incredibly invasive one with an unknown recovery time. I’m not entirely sure how it works, but given the name and its results, I can only imagine it will leave you immunocompromised for some time along with physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting you.”

Charls looked up from their datapad at Yaku’, whose stare seemed to bore holes through the doctor. The Infested Tenno opened their mouth, closed it, then opened it again with a sigh. “It’s what Jabali does.”

“…Yes.”

“He won’t let me die.”

“I know. He… He wanted you to try and go for the medical treatments first, but he knew you wouldn’t. He only offered to purge you as a last resort.”

“It’s my choice, and I choose purging. Jabali won’t let me die.”

Charls set the datapad down. “Yaku’, you’re going to wind up utterly drained. Jabali said that it’s incredibly aggressive and- and disruptive. He said that even those at their physical and mental peak prior to the Infestation were left exhausted. You’re not even close to that. Your heart is slowed, your pulse is erratic, and sometimes you stop breathing entirely. You are mentally not up to the task, not only because of the Infestation’s influence over you, but also because of the intense situations – the trauma – you’ve faced over the past year.”

Yaku’ made a face. “I’m not traumatized,” they muttered, pointedly ignoring the look Huon gave them.

Charls rubbed their forehead. “Yaku’, you are both mentally and physically unwell. Given that Jabali said his patients were also mentally drained, I can only imagine that this procedure will invade your mind, both to rid you of the physical Infestation and also to remove the influence over you. I can’t force you to pick one over the other, but–”

“I want Jabali to purge me. I’m not arguing with you anymore. Tell Jabali I said that I pick the purging and that I am not going to proceed with your treatments.” Yaku’‘s voice was as steady and cold as their gaze and it scraped against Charls’ ears, low and rough.

“I… I’ll let him know,” they whispered, picking up the datapad and turning to leave the room. “I’m sorry it had to come to this.”

——————————————————————————————

“Are you convinced, now?” Jabali asked, still holding the man in his arms. “The Orokin are long gone. The Empire fell millennia ago. All that’s left is ruins.”

They stood at the edge of a cliff, looking out over the crumbling surface of the moon. The huge spires caging Lua in pierced the sky like golden spears – a testament to the lasting technology of the Orokin – but now that Lua had returned from the Void, they were nothing more than gilded relics. Jabali stepped back and released the man, who staggered away from the edge. “Shit…” the man murmured, taking in his surroundings. “I mean,  _shit._ Holy fuck. I… Now, don’t get me wrong, they had it coming, but holy  _shit.”_

Jabali chuckled. “You believe me, now?”

The man’s dark eyes landed on Jabali, and had he not been piloting his Hydroid, the flush on Jabali’s face would’ve been painfully obvious. “How?”

Jabali cleared his throat and walked past the man, towards the huge Ayatan sculpture in the center of the platform. “I’m not, uh, wholly sure myself. The memories are all…” Jabali gestured vaguely. “They’re all jumbled and- and fuzzy. I can’t remember much at all.”

“And the… Towers?”

“All in the Void, with nothing but Corrupted inside. Look, I know it’s a lot to take in. Will you at least let me take you to a relay? I can answer your questions on the way.”

“…Yeah. Yeah, let’s go. Can you just tell me one thing before we get on your ship?”

“Yeah, shoot. Vondas, bring the Orbiter around. What’s your question?”

“The hell’s a relay?”

——————————————————————————————

Jabali knelt in front of navigation in the cockpit of his Orbiter, tapping away at coordinates. It had been six hours since he’d rescued the man with the crimson hair from Lua and finally,  _finally_ the man’s most pressing questions had been answered and he’d gone to shower. 

Vondas chirped beside Jabali, her dark magenta form materializing. “Operator, who is that man?”

“Someone I picked up on Lua. He’s from the time of the Orokin Empire. Can you find him some pants? A… shirt, maybe?” The image of the man, barechested and staring at Jabali with those dark eyes, bloomed in Jabali’s mind and stilled his hand as heat rose to his cheeks once again.

Vondas chirped again. “Of course, Operator. Cephalon Vondas would also like to remind the Operator of the Enti–  _ **vOId frEAk**  _– in the Transference chamber.”

“You remind me pretty much every day. I know the Entity is down there. It’s not going anywhere,” Jabali muttered. Vondas made her approximation of a grunt and vanished.

Ten minutes later, Jabali heard the man approach from the ramp. He ignored the sound of footsteps and tapped a bar on his datapad, checking the status of an extractor. “We should be at the relay in about… ten or eleven hours,” he informed the man.

“Mm. The name’s Orion, by the way.”

Jabali closed the status bar and turned, raising his eyebrows questioningly. “Hm? Oh–  _fuck,”_ Jabali breathed.

The man – Orion – stood at the top of the ramp in nothing but a towel, his hair still dripping from the shower and his dark eyes fixed on the shorter man kneeling in front of him. Jabali clamped a hand over his own mouth and flushed bright red, his own eyes going wide with embarrassment. Orion laughed and dropped into a crouch; the towel threatened to fall to the side with every small movement, drawing Jabali’s gaze. “You can stare,” he said with a grin, “I don’t mind.”

“I– Uh–”

“Look, handsome, everything you said was a lot to take in. I barely understood a word of it once we got past the first hour of talking, but there’s one thing I did understand: I’ve been asleep for millennia.”

“Um… V-Vondas? Where are you on the pants?” Jabali called, glancing between Orion’s face – his oddly  _familiar_ face; what was it about him? His strong jawline? – and the towel.

“The Operator’s private quarters are in a state of disarray,” Vondas chirped, “it will take some time to find suitable clothing. Jabali, you need to clean your room.”

Orion ignored Vondas and continued. “I’ve been asleep for millennia and  _everything_ I know is gone _._ It’s all been destroyed, or it’s in ruins. Do you know what that feels like?”

“I… I can imagine,” Jabali murmured, his blush beginning to fade.

“I was put into stasis one moment, and then the next I wake up and my entire life has fallen apart. It’s unbelievable,” he said, dropping his head and laughing halfheartedly. “At least I’m still hot, though, right?”

“Uh, yeah? I guess? I’m not… I’m not sure what you want me to do.”

“Not much you can do.” Orion patted Jabali on the shoulder. “It’s cute that you’re trying to help, though. Anyways,” he grunted, standing smoothly, “what’s the status on those pants?”

“She won’t respond to your–”

“Suitable clothing has been located, non-Operator.” Jabali’s Kubrow, Skalia, trotted up the ramp with one of Jabali’s many jumpsuits held in her mouth. She dropped the jumpsuit at Orion’s feet and sat, awaiting praise. 

Jabali and Orion exchanged glances before Orion shrugged and patted Skalia’s head. “Good… Kubrow. Now go,” he said, making a shooing motion and leaning down to scoop up the jumpsuit.

Jabali stared at Orion. “Vondas doesn’t usually respond to another person’s voice.”

The other man chuckled as he shook out the jumpsuit. “I guess she likes me. She’s not the only one, either,” he said, winking at Jabali; his grin grew wider at the resulting blush. “Your Kubrow likes me, too.”

“Okay, look–” Jabali started, annoyance clouding his expression.

“Sharing clothes on the first date, huh? Normally I’d wait until after the second or third, but you’re cute enough that I’ll make an exception.”

Jabali shot to his feet. “What is your  _deal?”_ he snapped, his face bright red. “You flirt, then you’re having an existential crisis, and then you cover it up by flirting even more? What kind of bullshit game are you trying to play, huh!? Why can’t you just be straightforward!?”

“Woah, hey,” Orion said, raising his hands in defense. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s all a lot to take in and I’m just trying to process every– Are you crying?”

“No!” Jabali yelled, scrubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hand. “I’m allergic to your obnoxious personality,” he muttered, pushing past Orion.

“Jabari, wait–”

“It’s  _Jabali!”_ Jabali stormed down the ramp and headed into his personal quarters, leaving Orion alone in the cockpit. “Vondas! Lock the door and don’t let Orion in here if he tries to get in.”

“Of course, Operator.”

——————————————————————————————

Eight hours after Jabali locked his door, a quiet knock came from it. Jabali lifted his head from the pillow and glared at the door. “Vondas, lights on.”

The room lit up and he rolled out of his bed, walking up to the door. “What do you want, Orion?” he grumbled. “Are you gonna try a half-assed apology?”

“Nah. I was actually wondering where the food is, I’m kinda hungry. Several millennia in stasis will do that to you,” the other man chuckled, his voice somewhat muffled by the door.

“Fuck off.”

“Jabali, wait. I’m just kidding – sort of. I could go for some food, honestly.”

“What the fuck do you want, Orion? Just spit it out,” Jabali demanded. “I’m not in the mood for playing games.”

Jabali heard Orion sigh. “I’m sorry. I kind of threw a wrench into things back on Lua. I mean, I definitely tried to kill you back there–”

“You wouldn’t have killed me.”

“…I  _tried_ to. Look, you seem… pretty stressed. I know you didn’t intended to pick up some stranger from the Orokin era. I’m gonna take a guess and say that you came to Lua for some stress relief and ended up having more stress piled on by me, so what’s the issue? Are you alright?”

Jabali opened the door to face Orion, whose head nearly brushed the top of the frame. “You’ve had your entire life flipped upside-down. We’re both freaking out, and I’m not gonna make it worse.”

Orion blinked owlishly at Jabali. “I already made it worse for you, what are you talking about? Jabali, seriously. It’s only fair if you tell me what’s wrong.”

The shorter man snorted. “Fine. You wanna know? Here, I’ll tell you:  _my sibling is dying and I can’t do_ shit  _about it.”_

“Oh. Yeah, that’s, um. Wow.”

“Yeah, ‘wow’ is right.”

Orion whistled lowly. “That’s pretty big.”

“No, really?” Jabali glared up at Orion. “I had no idea that my sibling dying was a big deal. Thank you for enlightening me, O Exalted One.”

“Hey, there’s no need to be snarky about it. It sucks, for sure. Um, do you mind if I come in? I feel awkward standing out here.”

Jabali grunted and stepped back to allow Orion into his personal quarters. “Don’t touch anything.”

“…Is this…” Orion smothered his laughter with a hand. “Who’s Lac Oman Mil?”

Jabali felt the blood drain from his face, then rush back in a furious blush. “I– Uh, that– Quit looking at it! Look away!”

“Hey, there’s no shame in having a poster of a hot guy on your wall.”

There was, indeed, a large poster of Lac Oman Mil, prominent Corpus figure and popular entertainer, plastered to Jabali’s wall. That particular poster displayed Lac Oman Mil posing on his side with his collared shirt open, a sultry gaze directed at the viewer. Jabali buried his face in his hands and groaned. “Look, he’s just really popular. That poster was the last one available! I would’ve picked another one if there were any left!”

“Uh-huh. And that explains this tab on your datapad opened to… erotica. I can’t read the rest of it, but this picture explains it pretty well.”

_“Quit looking at my stuff!”_ Jabali yelled. “It’s not what you think!”

Orion leaned over the datapad, flashing a bright grin at Jabali. “That’s a picture of Lac Oman Mil in an even more suggestive pose. How’s that even possible?”

“It’s one of his characters!” Jabali snatched up the datapad and closed the tab with a vicious swipe. He glared pointedly at Orion and tucked the datapad under his arm. “I really hate you right now.”

“That’s the stress talking, sweetheart.”

“Well, then why don’t you help me relieve some of it?” Jabali snapped, his voice dripping with malice.

“Take your pants off and I will,” Orion countered, pinning Jabali to the nearest wall and slotting his leg between Jabali’s thighs. A sly grin crossed Jabali’s face as Orion leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth, following Jabali’s jawline down to the smooth column of his throat.

Jabali unzipped the front of Orion’s jumpsuit and slipped his hand into it, eliciting a sharp gasp from the taller man. “Been a while, huh?” he chuckled, tilting his head back.

“Feels like millennia,” Orion murmured, smiling against Jabali’s neck.

——————————————————————————————

By the time Jabali had returned to Kronia relay to see Yaku’ again, the younger Tenno had fallen asleep. It was a dejected Charls who greeted him with a grim wave, ushering him inside the relay. 

“What happened?” Jabali asked, adjusting the collar of his Transference suit. Even after he’d dropped Orion off at Larunda relay several hours ago, he couldn’t get the lingering scent of the other man off of him. He couldn’t forget the feel of hands roaming over his body, either, and he blushed at the memory.

Charls, seemingly unaware of Jabali’s discomfort, led him back to the suite. “You aren’t going to like what I’m about to say,” they said in a hushed voice, coming to a halt in front of the door. 

Jabali felt his stomach turn over. “Don’t tell me,” he murmured, steeling himself for what would come next.

“They want you to purge them. I’m sorry, Jabali, I tried to convince them to go with the year-long treatment before I even  _mentioned_ the purging, but… they’re stubborn.” Charls sighed and shook their head. “They won’t accept any other answer. I’m sorry.”

“You explained to them the risks? They know that it’s painful and that it’ll leave them drained?”

“I told them everything you told me and whatever else I could infer from the information. They’re confident in your ability and they trust you. I know they don’t trust me.”

“Is Huon in there?” Jabali asked. “Does he know?”

“Yes, and yes. He’s asleep – they both are – but I can wake him up if you need to see him.”

“No, no. Leave them be, I don’t need to talk to him. I’ll just be a minute, then we can discuss the logistics of purging and if we can make the strain easier on Yaku’,” Jabali grumbled, waving open the suite’s door and stepping inside. He crept into the bedroom, doing his best not to wake either of the sleeping couple, and peeked into the nest of pillows and blankets to check on Yaku’.

For an Infested Tenno who had just gone through intense trauma, Yaku’ looked okay. Their breathing was slow, but steady, and their violet channels pulsed brightly. A small smile slipped onto Jabali’s face and he glanced at Huon; strands of his red hair had escaped its tie and fell across his face, tickling his skin and making his nose twitch every few breaths. Jabali lifted a hand to brush Huon’s hair away from his face–

Red hair.  _Red. Hair._ The same white streak nestled inside the red, whether it was rust or crimson. The same strong jawline and bright grin and nearly  _identical_  patches of vitiligo.

“Oh–” Jabali started, then bit down on his hand.  _”Fuuuuuuck,”_ he whispered, backpedaling out of the suite. The moment he was clear he collapsed against the wall and pressed his palms to his forehead. “Oh,  _fuck._ Yaku’ is gonna  _kill_ me,” he hissed. “Why me? Of all people, why me? And why the hell didn’t I realize it before?Yaku’ is going to  _murder_ me. This is how I die!”

Charls poked their head around the corner and made a face. “What’s your deal?”

Jabali dragged his hands down his face, groaning loudly. “I slept with a man who looks  _exactly_ like my sibling’s partner.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re fucked.”


End file.
